Obamacare Repeal: What Happens Next?

Americans may be in for a rude awakening.

For the past six years, Republican lawmakers have fought relentlessly to roll back the Affordable Care Act. Repeated votes for repeal, refusal to work within Congress to help to fix problems with the landmark legislation – A complete unwillingness to embrace President Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment.

That all changed with the unexpected election of Donald Trump.

As Senator Chuck Schumer put it, “Republicans are like the dog that caught the car.” Now what?

It turns out, and this MAY come as a shock to the average citizen, that the GOP has literally no idea what to do next. They have only had six years to work on a replacement, they need more time – However sources tell me that the replacement plan will be “terrific” and “so much better” and will reduce the costs “bigly.” So what does getting rid of Obamacare mean to the average American?

No longer covered by insurance if you have a pre-existing condition (Like cancer, diabetes, etc.)

No longer allowed to stay on your parents policy until you are 26

Women will have to pay more than men for insurance

No guarantee of contraceptive coverage

Medicaid expansion that will leave millions of the most vulnerable citizens without insurance

No more free preventative care for things like mammograms, physicals, cancer screenings, and contraception

Now, a lot of that sounds like stuff we don’t want to go away, right? Most Americans want to keep what they consider to be the “good” parts of Obamacare, but they don’t want to be told that they MUST have insurance. Well, that’s the mandate, and it’s the vital component of why the ACA works. Without it, we have a bunch of sick people trying to go to the doctor without healthy folks to balance out the risk, and costs would skyrocket. As my conservative friends often tell me, “We have to pay for it.” You know, like Mexico pays for walls.

Not to be a downer, but if Obamacare is repealed, your neighbor might die. Your aunt might die. You might die. Quite literally, thousands of Americans will die because they do not receive the medical care that they need.

Ok, now that we are up to speed on what the Obamacare repeal means to the average citizen – What happens when it gets repealed? We can go back to the “old ways” right? Back in a simpler time before 2010 when insurance costs never went up and everyone could get the medical care that they needed?

Not so fast, America.

Here’s the thing: It’s impossible to “go back” to the way things were. While insurance costs have gone up since the ACA was enacted, they have done so at the slowest rate in 50 years. Let’s use those critical thinking skills for a second: Do you think your big corporate boss is going to go BACK to paying for your healthcare if Obamacare is repealed? You think your company is going to get rid of those high-deductible plans and absorb your healthcare costs again? Do you even Capitalism, bro?

So now you are stuck with a high-deductible plan with no more subsidies or tax credits (because the GOP took those away from you because rich people needed a tax break.) – Obviously the insurance companies will roll out better, cheaper plans for their consumers, right?

Sure, insurance companies have a long track record of doing what is best for their policyholders, and NEVER what is going to make them the most money. I’m sure that they will be happy to slash insurance costs across the board as soon as this job-killing ACA is gone. That’s feasible, right?

Right?

Maybe you can share this column with your Obama-hating friends and see if maybe THEY have an idea of what comes next, because it’s pretty clear that after Republicans take healthcare away from 30 million Americans, they sure as hell don’t know what to do.